A heroin ring, operating out of Asbury Park, has
been dismantled and eliminated, said law enforcement
officials this week, with the arrest of four Asbury
Park men.

“The number one heroin dealer in Asbury
Park is off the streets because of local, county,
state, and federal law enforcement agencies, working
together to make it happen, said Acting Monmouth County
Prosecutor Robert Honecker. “The community of
Asbury Park is safer because of this cooperative
effort.”

Meanwhile,
City Manager Terry Reidy said yesterday that the County
Narcotics Strike Force, its Major Crimes Unit, the
county Gang Task Force, TNT, the city’s
Quality of Life Unit and officers from neighboring
Neptune will keep the pressure on in areas where it is
needed in the city as long as necessary.

“They have made a commitment to us and will
stay until we can take back our streets,” Reidy
said. “We have all the hot spots covered. The
recent arrests is the result of us asking for them to
step up the activity. They are here and they will stay
here.”

Deputy Mayor Jim Bruno said the help from
federal, county and local law enforcement is
“well needed.”

The arrests over the weekend were part of
the third phase of almost a two-year effort by
the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law
enforcement agencies. The arrests were made after
months of surveillance, undercover operations, and a
federal wiretap.

It resulted in an Asbury Park Organization heroin
cell being dismantled and eliminated, officials said.

Lawson
June, president of a city Neighborhood Watch group,
said he was pleased with the action.

“Drugs
are a problem,” he said. “I think the
Asbury Park police have done as much as they could with
what they had. Under the circumstances, they have done
a good job.”

Doug
Eschner, a longtime city resident, said he also was
pleased with the arrests, but believes it is just a
fraction of the drug dealing in the city.

“We
have to really start going after the small guys,
too,” he said. “People are standing on
every corner saying ‘yo, yo yo’ wanting to
buy or sell drugs. “Eighty-five percent of the
people arrested for drugs are from other towns. As long
as you have these buyers coming in, you’re going
to have the drugs. We’ve got to stop these guys
from coming in and buying drugs. We should put their
pictures up on billboards.”

Another
longtime resident, Vernice McGriff, said people need to
feel safe.

“We
have to discourage the drug people from being in Asbury
Park and stop other people from coming in to buy
drugs,” she said.

The
leader of the heroin cell was Kurtis Barnes, also known
as ‘Gotti.’ Barnes led the organization
which sold heroin with street names such as ‘Hell
Raiser,’ ‘Da wire,’ ‘Funny
Money’ and ‘Black Rain.’ The targeted
criminals were responsible for the distribution of
heroin throughout Monmouth and other New Jersey
counties.

“The
Asbury Park Organization heroin cell will not be plaguing
this community with drugs anymore,” said Special
Agent in Charge Michael Pasterchick Jr. “This
investigation represents the best efforts of federal,
state, county and local law enforcement working together
for one goal, arresting and dismantling the drug
trafficking organizations that infect a whole neighborhood
with drugs. Not only did we eliminate and dismantle this
drug organization from top to bottom, but we will continue
to investigate and arrest criminals that try to poison the
citizens of Asbury Park and others communities with
drugs.”

Arrested
were:

Kurtis
Barnes (AKA - Gotti), DOB: 09-07-1978, Asbury Park

Darren
Sims (AKA - DS), DOB: 05-18-1976, Asbury Park

Antonio
Grant (AKA - Geechi), DOB: 01-17-1979, Asbury Park

Michael
Collins (AKA Mikey), DOB: 08-20-1974, Asbury Park
The operation was a continuation of two
previous enforcement efforts that targeted the most
violent criminals in Asbury Park. The joint venture was
spearheaded by DEA’s Mobile Enforcement Team
(MET), a specialized squad dedicated to attacking drug
trafficking and urban violence in close coordination
with counties and local authorities.

To
date, 27 federal defendants arrested in conjunction
with the Asbury Park Organization have pled guilty and
are awaiting lengthy federal sentences.